We have fallen head over heels in love with a city in Colorado that we have never even been to. We have completely fallen in love with the state and all the beauty it has to offer.
Our story begins with the desire to become debt free. My husband and I have been pretty damn diligent with this dream, and have come pretty far in such a short time. Most recently, we discovered that selling our house would eradicate all of our debt (provided we get the right amount for our house) and put us on track to a financially free future. So we made a decision and put it in stone, we were going to sell our home.

As soon as we decided this was really going to happen, I made it my mission to start de-crapping, and start packing up our house. To be honest, most of the crap we have should be sold or donated. I don’t even know why we have it. In fact, I will probably go through half of the boxes and bins I have packed already and decide we don’t need them anymore. Simplify. This is really where my minimalist endeavor started. I realized while I was starting to pack things… just how much crap we had accumulated.

The packing process sucks hard-core, but not having to rush about it is fantastic. I can go at my own pace, and of course force the hubby to help when he isn’t out working his ass off.

In the beginning, we started to look around our home town for a new place. We were looking for another bedroom, so a 4 bedroom-3 bathroom home, and maybe a little more space than our current 1500sqft home. It’s not small by any means, however, working out in the garage when it’s 103 degrees outside is… well… no bueno.

There are loads of beautiful homes in our current area in the Hemet-San Jacinto Valley in Southern California, and many of them meet our expectations. What we weren’t expecting was the insane taxes that come with getting a newer home. When I say insane, I really mean it. Our taxes last year for our current home were $1,600 and change, while some of these homes are in the $4,000-$6,000 range. IN-SANE. The tax issue definitely puts a damper on things, especially when we found a house that we really liked and had to discard it as an option.

I’m stubborn. I’ll admit it. I thought I would never want to leave SoCal. Like, EVER. I’ve travelled all over the world, and the country, but California has always been my home. If you asked me 6 months ago if I wanted to move out of state, I firmly would have told you, “No.” On a whim, I decided to start looking at homes in Colorado, nearby the Anschutz Health and Wellness Center we love to see when we watch “Extreme Weight Loss”.

The homes there are beautiful. Totally what we are looking for. Plus, basements! I started sending zillow listing links to the hubs so he could see how awesome these homes were, and how beautiful it was out there. Initially, he was interested, but upset because we can’t just ask his work for a transfer. He will have his first Anniversary with the company in the beginning of October. Asking for any kind of transfer would be out of the question. I’ll admit, I felt a little defeated and set my little Colorado dream to the side, and continued looking at our options locally.

What happened next just further solidified our plans to move out of our house. Subterranean Termites. In my son’s bookcase. In his bedroom. Ew. SO much ew. Many tears, lots of being grossed out, and $500 later it was all taken care of. I took it as the Universe telling us to GTFO.

Not even a week ago, we all got in the car to head over to my parents’ house, and hubby backed the car into the garage door. It’s an easy mistake, in fact I have been forever terrified of doing it myself! Anyway, Like an IDIOT, I tried to open the garage door with the clicker and promptly broke the door. Yay! We were able to get the car out and bring the door down, it looks normal. That evening when we got back, we parked the car in the driveway, you know because it’s our freaking driveway… and the car was broken into.

A possible buyer for our home popped up. I’m still waiting for them to pursue this a little more.

*sigh* I felt so disgusted knowing someone went through our car and touched everything. They stole a few things, including a valet key. Ultimately it just overall sucked. The very next day, on a whim, the hubby decided to check out the job listings in his company in Colorado. Wouldn’t you know it, there was an opening in the VERY city I had been looking at! Aurora! He applied.

We figured since there was an opening, it’s not like he would be asking the company to *make* a position available for him to transfer to. I have been feeling incredibly positive about this possibility. Of course, I’m an impatient little shit too.

Yesterday, 3 of the neighbor’s gigantic labrador retrievers dug under our fence and got into our back yard. They chewed up a bunch of stuff and were adorable for about 5 minutes. I laughed off the whole thing really. It was as if the Universe was trying to tell me, “GO! Go already!” This all happened when the hubs was running some errands, including getting the car inspected for an estimate by our insurance company.

When he got home, he got an email from his Boss’s boss, asking him to give him a call about the position in Colorado he applied for. Both of us were nervous and excited at the same time. He called him!

As of right now, things are looking good, at least as far as timelines go. He is waiting to hear back from the Shop manager in Aurora, and should get a call from him within the next 7 days. The overall phone conversation was positive and optimistic, so I’m really crossing my fingers for this next phone call. Everything just feels so right. Like it is falling into place for us.

I started a secret board on pinterest, pinning all things beautiful and Coloradan. Every day I fall more and more in love with Colorado. I am really looking forward to going for a visit and checking out Aurora. Hopefully we will have a little more direction soon! There is so much to do there!